FFXV discussion thread [No Spoilers]

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Guitar (pseudo)God

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Up to chapter 14 with a fair amount of side content completed. 45 hours give or take.

I've spent most of my time going back and forth between "OMG, this is awesome" to "wtf" and everywhere in between. Not unlike Chinglee's up and down saga over the lat couple of pages :p. But, it wouldn't be a Final Fantasy game if I didn't have the opposite reaction to everything he did, lol.

I found the story elements of the Open World sections to be downright terrible. Now, granted, I haven't done more than 3 or 4 side quests. I've only done hunts and story quests and personal exploration, so maybe that fleshes the story out more, but the presentation of it reminded me a lot of the same problems I had with Kingsglaive. Anything not having to do with the main characters just feels out of nowhere. Like the story was written by committee and these are the points they wanted to hit, but couldn't find a way to naturally transition to them in a way that gives it any impact.

I thought the "second half" was much, much better thematically. It had momentum and pacing and it involved characters I genuinely cared about. Even made me care about Ignis who used to be my least favorite, until the story lets you realize just how much he's brought to the table. This wasn't Shakespearean, but a more than passable Final Fantasy story and I found it very satisfying.

I've not completed the final act yet, if only because there's a monster in my way and I can't beat it yet, lol. I don't know if you can cheese it, or skip it, but I decided that I would take advantage of being at the point of no return to go ahead and return and get stronger.

The gameplay itself in the Open World is great, though. I am absolutely loving all of the stuff that you can do. Really getting a much better feel for the combat as well. It's still immensely satisfying. Like with the Episode Duscae combat, I've gotten to a point where I can time the dodges smoothly in the flow of the attack and this is where the combat really *feels* great, even if it's a bit more simplistic than I had hoped.

I feel like I'm the only one on the 'net that liked Chapter 13:

Now, I understand that people may not like the aspect where you basically end up starting the chapter with nothing and have to procure your own equipment, but that was completely necessary both thematically and for gameplay reasons, and I thought it was done perfectly. Especially considering it's also your introduction to the ring. I feel like people were expecting it to be a short gimmick, but it ended up being a fully fleshed out dungeon. I really didn't see a problem with it at all.

The gameplay reasons is that this is an open world game and you can end up there at level 99 with all the highest grade equipment you can get, or you can show up there at level 25 with basic stuff, and this keeps that dungeon interesting no matter what. Something other FF games lacked, frankly, as the final dungeons would often feel like walking through a newbie zone by the time you're doing doing sidequests and getting beefed up.

I will say this, though. I will never ever follow a game this closely again. For one, I rally just can't stand how jaded and cynical some of the people following these things are. Nothing to do with the game, I just feel like at a certain point some people should just stop playing videogames if everything is going to piss them off all the time. And frankly, I feel like most of them just love to wallow in their doom and gloom and desperately try to get others to be miserable with them. I don't need any of that. I read from about a million people how "terrible" chapter 13 was supposed to be. And I was having fun with that chapter, thinking I was still on 12 and bracing myself for what I thought would be a poor stretch of gaming, only to realize I was already there and apparently didn't notice it was so terrible (because it wasn't). I swear, in fact I promise, that following any game this closely will necessarily lead to enjoying the game less. That is the only inevitable conclusion.

But mostly, it's because they didn't leave much left to actually be explored. Some things felt more hollow than I think it would have been if every moment in the game wasn't basically a checklist of scenes and places I've already seen through the various marketing materials. Especially some of the views and whatnot that would have been their own reward after a small "dungeon" or boss, only to have it be a view I've seen a thousand times without context in various trailers.

Overall, though, I am still really, really digging the game. I'm on the part I like most about any FF game and that's the time where I'm free to just get super strong. I'm already 9999ing most things when I've got some 400 atk food in my belly, but there's no such thing as strong enough!

Protip on accumulating AP: Not sure if there's an ascension node to activate first, but you get 1 AP for every enemy you kill with a warp strike. So, as I go around doing these lower level side quests that I missed, I warp-kill all the lowbie stuff for pretty much 1 AP per kill. For tougher mobs, I got the final warp strike skill that makes close range warp strikes critical hits. So, I can basically chain warp strikes on a single enemy and take it down quickly for the AP bonus. It's a surprisingly satisfying and effective way to kill, especially with the warp strike decoys all over the place and big numbers flying all over the place (with Ignis' enhancement, I can basically 9999 each hit and can get in a good 6 or 7 hits in a couple of seconds, and this is with a sword I bought off a vendor). With armiger weapons, I can get up to around 270 MP, so I can clear out most packs this way with ease.
I almost feel GameFAQs-esque following up this excellent post with a shorter one, but I had a different take on the open world stuff. I finished all of it (including that damn castle) before moving forward. There's a lot of lore hidden all over the place. Plus the characters talk about EVERYTHING, even in the optional dungeons. Even some of the fetch quest-type things are worth it for the banter. Some of those hunts are BRUTAL too, even at level 55 and a good handle on the combat mechanics. 9 Thunderocs(?) is not easy, the "baby" is a right goddamn bastard, and I'm like Nicolas Cage in my hatred of the bees.

The open world endeared me to the world and the main cast. And being in that world so long, the endgame had more of an impact than had I played straight through it.
 
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Guitar (pseudo)God

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BTW, this is absolutely Versus still. All they did was Ctrl+F: Ceith and replace it with Daemons. The layout of the game is also totally opposite of the layout of FFXIII (IE, open first, then linear, as opposed to the opposite) like it's meant to be the antithesis of FFXIII. That same structure is all there, and it's more than just these couple of points.
Yeah, according to people in the know, Nojima's script was mostly intact. So this was what all the fuss was about. The unmistakable feeling I got was that if they'd been able to keep the Insomnia invasion in the game, Luna would have still have been Stella.
 

Storm

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Yeah, according to people in the know, Nojima's script was mostly intact. So this was what all the fuss was about. The unmistakable feeling I got was that if they'd been able to keep the Insomnia invasion in the game, Luna would have still have been Stella.
i see a lot of versus in XV and that's one of the reasons i love the game, but intact? only the basic i think
 

DrBretto

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I almost feel GameFAQs-esque following up this excellent post with a shorter one, but I had a different take on the open world stuff. I finished all of it (including that damn castle) before moving forward. There's a lot of lore hidden all over the place. Plus the characters talk about EVERYTHING, even in the optional dungeons. Even some of the fetch quest-type things are worth it for the banter. Some of those hunts are BRUTAL too, even at level 55 and a good handle on the combat mechanics. 9 Thunderocs(?) is not easy, the "baby" is a right goddamn bastard, and I'm like Nicolas Cage in my hatred of the bees.

The open world endeared me to the world and the main cast. And being in that world so long, the endgame had more of an impact than had I played straight through it.
I gotta be fair here, too. I haven't really done much for sidequests so I totally could be selling it short. I feel like the banter and all that as something separate from "the story" if that makes any sense. I call that world building and the world building is excellent. I absolutely LOVE Eos and want to explore every nook and cranny it has to offer.

The "story" parts I refer to are the traditional style main story, and really it mostly boils down to that one scene, about a character you barely know anything about and the cahracter's reaction to it (I'/m sure if you've been there, you know what I mean). And a few little things here and there that felt like they were put together clumsily.

I forgot to mention it, though, but I ended up a bigger fan of Arenea than I thought. I would have liked to have seen more of her. She could have her own spin-off.
 

DrBretto

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i see a lot of versus in XV and that's one of the reasons i love the game, but intact? only the basic i think
I think the point is that it stopped being that early version of how they were representing the game long, long before Tabata and co took over, and it definitely looks like they took what was really there as it was and just slapped a coat of XV on it. But, since the game was an actual complete, full story, I'd be willing to bet a decent sum of cash that it hasn't changed all THAT much since that point, and that this is a lot closer to what Versus was going to actually be than some people out there think.
 
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Tornak

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So I've only been able to play for 3 hours or so (even though I got it last Friday), so I can't say much (especially considering that I already played JD), but I have a question that you someone has probably already asked: how do I get the MP3? I took a look at the Regalia shop, but it wasn't there.

I know that I have the newer patch because I can warp outside of battles. It actually makes exploration faster, even though it's only a bunch of warp strikes so far until I get to 0. BTW, have they changed the stasis mode? Now Noctis only stumbles and touches his head when, in that mode, you try to warp or something, not when you deplete the full bar.

I'm assuming I have to continue playing to get the MP3, right? I haven't even reached Galdin Quay yet (doing some hunts and discovering stuff here and there). Even though I played JD not long ago, it's cool seeing stuff that wasn't in the demo, like certain sidequests (and I think there are more hunts than in the demo, but I can't really remember).

I think I'll kinda rush through Chapter 1 (I'll probably play a little after dinner). When are Chocobos available in Leide? I really want to get them, especially as they'll be really helpful for some exploration: I'm a bit tired of Leide (and it's not exactly a very pleasant place, visually).
 

DrBretto

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I believe it becomes available at the onset of chapter 3, which I would actually recommend rushing to. That's when the whole world opens up as well. Including chocobos, which you can rush straight to when you hit Chapter 3 as well.
 
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Tornak

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Thanks! I'm actually really excited to get to Duscae (who would have said a year ago!).

I think I'll do just that, no doubt I'll also get the Bioblaser north Leide, see if I can kill the Bandersnatch here too and do some dungeons. Really excited about those, as they were locked in the demo and I've been reading great things about them.

BTW, I don't know if it has something to do with "easy mode" being locked in the demo, but, even though I've only encountered one Daemon fight (beyond some goblins during a Hunt), I actually had some trouble with an Iron Giant (was level 4 that time) because of all the Bombs that kept spamming like crazy. Trying to kill them before they explode is really fun, and so is warping away if they're about to do such thing.

If I hadn't played JD and seen a hundred preview videos, I would be pretty overwhelmed with this game even from the very beginning, with how big the world is and the amount of monsters, dungeons and sidequests there are. I'm very excited about latter areas now.
 

DrBretto

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Duscae looks sooo different and bigger and more vibrant than ever before. It'll feel like a whole new place, yet just familiar enough to feel it. It's awesome, and totally worth getting to.

I'm pretty sure, though, that when you're out in the field in Duscae, the game secretly squishes you down to a smaller size to make the world look and feel bigger. Just like in FFXII where I swear they just turn the game camera and angle of the characters models to create the illusion of climbing a mountain.
 
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DrBretto

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Source? PM if needed.
I'm not sure what his source is, but SE has said it like 40 times, too. The only reason anyone thinks otherwise is because they just don't trust them (whether they're right or wrong to do so, I'll leave up to the individual).
 

Nova

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I mean i already knew it was obvious Versus didn't change that much, but GuitarGod made it sound like Insider info.
 

DrBretto

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I mean i already knew it was obvious Versus didn't change that much, but GuitarGod made it sound like Insider info.
I think he was just reiterating that every official word from insiders has been in agreement with that.

Though, I don't speak for him, maybe he does know something!
 

Guitar (pseudo)God

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Yes, @DrBretto is correct. I'm not an insider and wouldn't claim to be.

Here's an example: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=166543791#post166543791

Falk said:
...
It is entirely possible that key elements of the Versus XIII trailers might have been changed even if the project had remained as Versus XIII. While Nomura and Nojima undoubtedly would probably have weaved everything, from the party invasion to Stella and her exact characterization as it had been presented, it into their overall narrative, the existence of those scenes, as they were, were not yet indicative that an entire story had already been completely set in stone utilizing those scenes.

I think honestly, this is one of the gifts Nomura and Nojima have - being able to write in his ideas into a narrative that doesn't break under its own weight when taken in small slices e.g. Kingdom Hearts. When a slightly different set of people took the helm, the decision to find ways to include these smaller concept pieces into the overall narrative becomes a harder one, because if not done correctly it will be at the expense of the game itself, and a disservice to Nomura.

Having spoken to multiple staff members over the past year, what I can say that when they are following Nomura's original vision as much as possible, it's not simply just PR speak. They -are- doing all they can to respect the world and characters that Nomura created. Aesthetically, it's still a fantasy based on reality. Noctis still is crown prince of a family of sword summoners. The combat still is based on capitalizing on that fact. It's still an action-based open world Final Fantasy. The game still is at its core a road trip story. Nojima's plot is still largely intact.
...
 

Storm

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Tornak

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Yet another small, silly question: if you enter the code and install it, you supposedly should get the Masamune right away in the game, right?

I entered it, downloaded and installed it (correctly, apparently) and the sword is nowhere to be found. I hadn't realized until now, as I entered the code a few days ago and couldn't play until today.
 

Storm

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Yet another small, silly question: if you enter the code and install it, you supposedly should get the Masamune right away in the game, right?

I entered it, downloaded and installed it (correctly, apparently) and the sword is nowhere to be found. I hadn't realized until now, as I entered the code a few days ago and couldn't play until today.
it's on the greatswords tab, it was there as soon as i installed the code.
 

DrBretto

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Yet another small, silly question: if you enter the code and install it, you supposedly should get the Masamune right away in the game, right?

I entered it, downloaded and installed it (correctly, apparently) and the sword is nowhere to be found. I hadn't realized until now, as I entered the code a few days ago and couldn't play until today.
Mine showed up automatically but I had the digital deluxe version. If you can't get it to work, though, it's really no big deal. It's nice in the early game, but it'll get replaced quickly.
 

Storm

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Swords will gather and appear depending on the player’s will to go after them. That trailer image is nothing but a representation. And we decided as a development option to make him that strong for the trailer. But don’t worry, Noctis can be as strong as you seen in the trailers if you have the will to do it” – Tetsuya Nomura on the character development

it seems the royal weapons were always something intended to be found on the world.

"Early regions in the game are heavily inspired by western “bang-bang” movies"

not exactly similar to "bang-bang" movies, but the early region in FFXV is fully western (you can see the desert area and damaged poles in both Versus and XV).

"Weapons can be customized and what is obtained in the early stages of the game can be used until the end"

you can "mod" weapons in the final game and make them useful till the end (Engine Blade, Drain Lance...)
 
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